Comets sweep Springport

JONESVILLE — On ‘Senior Night', Jonesville continued it’s run through the Big 8 conference on Tuesday, sweeping Springport in straight sets to remain unbeaten in league play.

“We had prepped them a lot, because it’s a high-emotion game. It’s just tough knowing this is their last time playing at home in a conference match,” Comet coach Sydney Barrett said of her seniors.

“They really held it together. As we settled in, they came to play for sure.”

The opening set was a battle, with ties at 1-1, 2-2 and 3-3 before the Comets asserted themselves for leads of 7-3 and 12-6.

Jonesville would hold the lead through 22-16, but the Spartans would get as close as 24-23 before the Comets put the set away.

After the first set scare, Jonesville took care of business the rest of the night. The Comets scored the first five points of the second set and built leads of 8-1, 14-4 and 24-17 before closing out the set 25-20.

Barrett was able to mix in her bench player with her senior starters, building chemistry and depth at several positions.

“It’s nice being able to mix in some underclassmen to play with these [seniors]. They get to play with them in practice, but it’s a different feel in a match. Just being around girls that have played the game so long, it naturally makes you better,” Barrett said.

“I have confidence in anybody on the bench that, in any moment, anybody can go in and get the job done. They definitely did tonight. It didn’t matter who I put in. There was never a moment when I was worried, which is an awesome feeling.”

Jonesville started strong in the third set as well, jumping to a 7-2 edge and building leads of 12-3 and 18-7. This time, Springport was unable to mount any momentum, as the Comets closed out the match with a 25-15 victory.

Barrett was complimentary of her senior class not only for the job done Tuesday night, but for the impact they have made on the Comet program.

“There is such a high level of commitment to be better. This group of girls legitimately comes to practice every day and wants to be better at volleyball. You can’t teach that. They’re really going to be missed, just for that mentality,” she said.

Senior Teya Nichols had 34 assists and senior Lauren Mains had 14 digs, each leading the team in those categories.

“We started off in third or fourth grade, and we’ve been playing together ever since,” Mains said, commenting on the senior class. “They’re my best friends. We do a lot of team-bonding. It’s awesome playing with them.”

Senior Sarah Dawson collected eight digs and had “great defensive movement on the right side” according to Barrett. Senior Sam Dunn had eight kills while senior Maddie Boyer led the team with five aces.

Jonesville will travel to Grass Lake this Thursday, before hosting the 12-team ‘Think Pink’ tournament on Saturday.

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